It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Click on “Shop Now” and select any nursing cover or nursing cover gift set you like.

Once you have made your selection, you’ll automatically be directed to the shopping bag. Enter the promo code “VALUC” and we will deduct 100% off the cost of the nursing cover or $35.00 off a nursing cover gift set. Shipping and handling fees are a separate charge.

Remember: the promo code is “VALUC” and you can use it MORE THAN ONCE – just open a new browser window each time you do!

Pick your favorite when you spend $75 or more, just enter the promo code.

One of the most important purchases you make for your child is their car seat. With so many brands available how do you pick the right one? Do you get the base or just use the buckle? Convertible or booster? So many options! My advice turn to The Car Seat Lady. This lady breaks it down and helps parents protect their precious cargo! Watch her videos on YouTube or follow her on FB.

6. Adjust the chest clip to armpit level; at abdomen level, organs can be injured in a crash.

7. Make sure straps are snug and straight.

Janusz Liberkowski is a name I have not forgotten when it comes to the car seat struggle. His heartbreaking story about loosing his daughter in an automobile accident and inspiration to save other children from this misfortune has stuck with me every time I buckle one of my kids in. He was the winner of American Inventor on ABC and though he had partnered with Evenflo to bring his invention to market this has yet to be accomplished and the partnership has since ended. He called his safety seat the Anecia Survival Capsule after his baby girl. Here is what the prototype looked like:

The show revealed the product after some tweaking in the finale to look like this:

To see it in action check out this YouTube video (sorry I couldn’t find one in English but you don’t need to hear it to see how it works).

Not sure about all you but I would be interested in testing this possible life saving invention out!

Here is an update to this post from last month, a new company has released a prototype for a potentially lifesaving addition to the standard car seat. Check out all the details on their site Carkoon.

One of my favorite gifts to bring newbie parents in the hospital is Champagne. When our first child was born we brought a bottle with us and had the nurses put it in the fridge. After her birth we celebrated with intimate family and friends.It truly was a special way to welcome our new addition and one of my favorite memories of her birthday.
This is one of the cutest bubblies I have found to bring the parents (especially if they have a girl). It is Barefoot brand and the little foot is just too precious. They also make mini bottles which are great if you don’t want to bring glasses to the hospital so everyone can have their own “baby” bottle.

So finally going through and organizing some photos when I ran across my sweet baby boy’s first birthday pics. Where does the time go? Our birth photographer had taken a photo of him in front of the clock at his birth time 7:31 AM and at 24 hrs old and now I have one with him at the exact time a year later but what happened to all those hours, minutes and seconds in between I have no idea!

Note:Never leave children alone unsupervised with balloons.Luckily my son has never been one to put things in his mouth but still I watched like a hawk as we took these photos. He thought they were balls and was more interested in throwing them than eating them but accidents can happen in a matter of seconds so please be proactive. Thanks!

*The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely my own and do not reflect that of any other contributor to Besties With A Blog.

I have been debating about posting this because I know it’s going to enrage many but it has been weighing on my mind since I saw a certain Facebook page. There is a couple in Utah that has been dealing with infertility for 8 years. They decided to use in vitro fertilization to conceive. Now they are expecting Quads. The whole page was about fundraising and media coverage which led me to think shame on you for using this to get your 15 minutes and bringing life into the world you can’t support. Now the new development is one set of twins has twin to twin transfusion syndrome and they had to be flown out to CA to do surgery ( another cost they can’t afford) which sounds like it went well. In all of the post they say “send prayers” and “thank God” but it all seems a little hypocritical to me.

If they really believe in God maybe they should have taken their infertility as a sign that this wasn’t the path God had in store for them but instead they made a baby in a lab where I promise God was nowhere to be found. I have seen this story a hundred times where people have taken the miracle of life into their own hands and had complications every step of the way. When it starts to get rough the prayers soon follow but praying to God for a path he did not create for you seems senseless to me. Maybe there is a reason you couldn’t conceive. It is beyond the scope of whether we can play god making children that otherwise wouldn’t exist but should we? Perhaps your path was one of adoption or fostering but because doctors have the capability of offering you a child of your own image you abandoned these needs for a selfish egotistical route. Who are you really helping by IVF? Not the baby the drug addict burned with her cigarette that is now in foster care, not the little boy who lost both his parents to war and is living in an orphanage with less than 10 minutes of human contact a day, not that twin that isn’t receiving enough nutrients to survive due to TTTS. I really do wish the best for this family and I will pray for those unborn babies that did nothing had had no choice but I will not pray for those that so blatantly disregard consequences of playing God. How many stories like this do we need to hear before realizing IVF is unbelievably selfish and it’s time to trust God?

It is situations like this that make me want to vote yes on amendments like Measure 1 taking away physicians ability to preform IVF (see this letter from Dr. Stephanie Dahl on the impact of Measure 1 to IVF). At the same time I would be voting to take away a women’s right to choose which I don’t agree with. Regardless this is not a pro-choice debate. It is a comment on how reckless physicians and want-to-be parents are becoming. Implanting multiple embryos when the patients/potential parents are in no way capable of providing for the number of embryos they are implanting not to mention the risk to mom and babies of this behavior. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should! The most recent post on their FB page was a photo of Jesus and more prayer talk, it disgusts me. You don’t get to pick and choose in what hour of need you turn to the lord and what time you turn to science. Their belief is faulty at best and their faith nonexistent as far as I can tell. Quadfather (as he has started calling himself) you really are a selfish miscreant douche!

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

Matthew 13:1-23 Two groups of believers are seen, one true and one false.

Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false prophets among you, who privately bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Jude 1:12-13These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Here are some stories that are truly worth reading from people who aren’t looking for fame only sharing experiences and hope:

I walked into the backyard last night to a wonderful surprise!

I was extremely happy to see that the baby shower party favors we gave to our guest served their purpose. We wanted to give them something that would be a reminder of Ryder and the joy that day meant for us. We ended up giving out the cutest little elephant shaped seed paper in a coconut plant liner with planting instructions all tied up in beautiful blue ribbon.

I took what leftovers we had from the shower and planted them in our yard. What grew was better than I ever could have imagined! One year later out popped an amazing surprise, forget-me-nots. A bittersweet reminder of the day our family and friends came to meet the newest member of our family and how fast the time goes. No longer that little baby everyone snuggled and gushed over at his shower, today he is a rambunctious one year old on a mission to pick all those beautiful blue blossoms that for an instance brought me back to a time that feels like just a day ago and a lifetime ago all at once.

A rush of sadness came over me as I realized how quickly we do forget the babies our children once were as they become the little people we know and love. This tiny reminder in my garden will always be there to tell me to forget-me-not mommy as I was, I will always be your baby. Remember me on that day small and helpless taking up a spot in your heart you didn’t know was empty until you met me. Love me now for the amazing little man I’ve become. I hope they come back every year, a reminder of a beautiful time I never want to forget.